Media

Designing ‘Urban Toys’ to reactivate underused public spaces

Published at: 15 March 2018

How can ‘play areas’ in cities create new ways to interact with space?

This was the question that led to Mexico City’s Laboratorio para la Ciudad hosting the ‘Urban Toys’ competition. The aim of the competition was to gather architectural proposals for temporary interventions to reactivate underused public spaces through play and amusement.

In the article for arch daily by Karina Zatarain, ‘Urban Toys’ are defined as “multi-functional objects adapted to the public space where they are installed; they respond to children’s demand for play areas and new ways to explore the world. They are artifacts that push the boundaries for playground equipment, defying the traditional play areas that are usually installed in public places, such as swing sets, slides and other standardised plastic modules.”

In total, 86 proposals were received. Selected teams will receive a cash prize, and the ‘Urban Toys’ will soon be installed in three of Mexico’s public squares.